Tom Aspinall chuckles at Jon Jones’ UFC London tweet: ‘I think he kind of patronized me’
There’s one feature MMA fans can look forward to after most UFC events these days, and that’s the reaction of Jon Jones to a potential threat.
The former light heavyweight kingpin and current heavyweight champ regularly weighs in on contenders, mostly to throw some shade in their direction as they celebrate a step up the UFC ladder.
For Tom Aspinall’s big comeback win over Marcin Tybura at UFC London, all the MMA world got out of Jones was “sounds good lol.” In other words, just about as close as you can get to indifference.
“I’m just putting out there...Jon Jones...a patronizing guy,” joked Aspinall on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I think he kind of patronized me. How dare he patronize me? How dare he?”
It wouldn’t be the first time Jones mocked his opposition. The 36-year-old champion has earned the right to be cocky, and he’s seen plenty of fighters call him out over the years, only to fumble on the way to the title. Aspinall could be the latest, or he could be the real thing. Jones isn’t holding his breath.
“Yeah, I don’t know, whatever,” Aspinall continued. “But that’s the fight, that’s my dream fight. So I’ll do whatever I can to get that.”
First, Jones faces ex-champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. It’s a fight that picks a consensus pound-for-pound king against the most decorated UFC heavyweight champ in history. Jones has hinted the Madison Square Garden event could be his last octagon walk after a decorated career. Aspinall would like that not to be the case, because he sees himself as a unique challenge.
“Well, he’s fought a lot of quicker guys before,” the U.K. native said. “I don’t mean quicker than me. I mean quicker than most heavyweights, being a light heavyweight, obviously. But he’s never fought someone quicker than a light heavyweight who’s bigger than him before, who is super confident with big fight IQ, who’s not intimidated, who’s young and fresh, not loads of miles on the clock and brings something different. That’s what I think I bring to the table against Jon.”
Aspinall called out the winner of the upcoming UFC Paris event between ex-champ Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac, an idea he admitted could potentially backfire if Spivac, whom he previously beat, pulled off the win. Sergei Pavlovich, on the other hand, is on a six-fight winning streak and could be the perfect title eliminator for Jones.
If he somehow gets to Jones before retirement, Aspinall predicts he’ll shock the world.
“I think I’m dangerous from everywhere, to be honest,” he said. “And I think I have to touch you once. You can see what just happened. I know Marcin Tybura and Jones are two different people. I’m completely aware of that. But if he’s a human being, I have to hit him one time at speed that he doesn’t see, and I’m really capable of doing that. So to answer your question, I think I can knock him out.”
On the flip side, Aspinall is just as satisfied with the idea of holding the UFC heavyweight title, so maybe he’s not holding his breath on whether Jones is really going to hang them up, after all.
“I’d be disappointed, but it wouldn’t ruin my life,” he said of potentially missing a Jones fight. “Ultimately, I’m trying to get the belt, and it doesn’t really matter who [it is]. That would just be a nice little cherry on top if I was to get to beat Jon Jones, as well.”